《Game of the Mad God》


 Prologue- The last day

    Jason opened his eyes hazily, as sunlight streamed through his window into his over decorated apartment.  Everywhere you looked was a poster of some anime character or video game art. His furniture was mostly won from sweepstakes, and were one of a kind  pieces.


    Yes, he was the self proclaimed  ''American Otaku''. Jason Delacroix, 22 years old, he would neither run nor hide. He used to seriously introduce himself that way. No doubt, if certain producers of a classic anime heard it, he would certainly be sued for trademark violations.


    Jason rolled out of bed, yawning. If he had a little sister, now would have been the perfect time for her to run over, saying " Aniki, it-it''s not like I made breakfast just for you or anything b-b-b-ut its ready. Y-you better be thankful!" Alas, his parents had deigned to make him an only child, which he hated them for.


    As he got up , he did his morning exercises. He refuse to be some typical otaku, fat and sweaty, with weird looks on their glasses covered faces. Well... he did wear glasses, but that was it!  He had to stay in pretty good shape, After all, What if he got into a fight after a card game? What if he had to run? What if a girl wanted to touch his firm and developed muscles? What if a shadowy organization began to hunt him down. He had to be ready for any such situation.


    He began his day, starting with watching old episodes of Bleach and Naruto. He had been heart broken when bleach had  been discontinued, even more so when Naruto had finished. One Piece was the only one that had not yet abandoned him in his springtime of youth.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    After that, he watched  the new episodes of several less known anime.  He was almost done, when a mysterious deliveryman arrived at his door. Jason took his I.D out and grabbed a pen before opening the door, as he already was expecting several light novels. "Are you Jason Delacroix?" The man asked when Jason opened the door. Jason seriously hated stupid questions.


    "No, I''m some one else who happens to live at his address, look like him, and I just happen to have his I.D card out.*sighs* Yes I''m Delacroix, my books have arrived safely I trust?" Jason asked inquisitively. The deliveryman shook his head. " This ain''t no book kid, its a statue." he said, pulling over a dolly cart which carried a wrapped up, 1.5 meter tall figure.


    "What the- I diddnt order this!" Jason exclaimed as the deliveryman pulled the statue into his loft. He already had a statue. Any other statue would simply pale in comparison. "Ain''t my problem kid, I just deliver." And with that, the man was off.


    "Dont worry Exia, this thing will never replace you" said Jason, patting his true statue. It was a three meter tall gundam. He had won it in an online poker match against an otaku in japan, and it was the crowning jewel of his memorabilia collection. Little did he know, he wasn''t going to see that statue for a long time.

 Chapter 1- Oh greeaaat, a new world.

    After a few hours of reading manga and destroying n00bz at call of duty, Jason noticed it was getting dark. "Time to make some money~" he said joyously.  He quickly got dressed.  Since he was playing the casino tonight, he decided to dress up so he could get into the higher stakes games.  He put on a pair of grey pants, perfectly creased, with a matching sports jacket which he wore open over a black satin button-up shirt. he combed his wavy hair  back and put a black fedora hat with a silvery trim on. Ugh I look good!] he thought to himself.


    Usually he played smaller games like poker night in some affluent neighborhood in Baton Rouge, making only as much as he needed so he didn''t attract attention to himself. But tonight, he was hitting the biggest casino in New Orleans. Why? A certain owner of collectible cars was selling his bleach-inspired sports car, arguably the best one on the market: The Bankai.


    It was a  deep, glossy black on the outside, with faint, wave like traces of red on the trim, reminiscent of an attack from the orange-haired MC himself. The inside was darker than Mugetsu itself, until you turned it on, then the central lighting and the control system all glowed a blood red. What made it so great was that as you sped down the highway, because of the patterns of red on the outside along with those inside,  the car actually began to look like  a focused Getsuga Tenshou.  Jason had to have it. The bidding started at 5,000,000 yen(around 41,000 USD) but everybody knew it would skyrocket.


    Jason only had a week, so he would need to hit every major casino in Louisiana to make enough money to win the bidding war. Jason  pulled up to the casino, and took  a moment to adopt a new persona: a confident, rich kid. He walked into the casino with a swift, powerful gait. The entrance was extremely important so he couldnt mess it up. He knew a few people would be watching, and if he didn''t look like a VIP, there was no way he was getting in the VIP section.


    After passing through security, he promptly went to go and exchange his money for chips. "Gimme five thousand sweetheart, I think I''ll keep it light tonight." said Jason, winking at the young lady at the booth. Although he said that, five thousand dollars was all he had. This was an all or nothing situation. five thousand wasnt enough to buy in to a high stakes game, he would need at least five times that.


    He already knew which games to play. first, he went up to the blackjack tables. After years of practicing, he had learned to count cards fairly well, of course he cunningly loss a few rounds so security wouldn''t detect his cheating. He then took his money to the table games,  starting with craps tables. He repeated his strategy of  winning and losing in a 2:1 ratio. He played several other games as well, and sometimes let himself lose more heavily, to allay any suspicion.  He was sure to talk to people, flirt, and generally be likable wherever he went. Jason was doing all this for a reason however.


    After a few hours, he had the buy in he needed for the poker game.  Jason approached the  blocked off section as if it were only natural for him to be allowed in. Just as he was about to enter, security stopped him. Dammit! Did i mess up? He thought as he turned towards the guard. "Is there a reason you''re blocking my way officer?" he asked  in  voice that sounded indifferent, yet slightly annoyed.


    "Sir we need your name for verification..." the guard said nervously. "The name''s Delacroix." Jason said shortly. The security guard began to hurriedly look through the list. Come on, come on. I know my name''s not on the list, so there''s only one other way I''m getting in there. Jason thought to himself, praying that his scheme worked. Just as the security officer was about to tell Jason his name wasnt on the list, a group of young people approached.


    They were some of the people Jason had been extra nice to, as he could tell they had money from their designer clothing. They quickly pressured the guard to let him in, stating that he was with them. Safe! He thought to himself in a Japanese accent. When he got inside the VIP lounge, he hung out with the group that got him in for a few minutes, talking about things he cared nothing about. He stayed a few more minutes to get the girls'' numbers.  He may be an otaku, but he certainly wasn''t the type to only like 2-d girls.


    When he approached the poker table, he noticed that everyone playing looked experienced. This wont be easy...Jason quickly took his seat. He noticed they were looking at him as if he were an undesirable. Then he realized why. He had only used the minimum buy-in to join the game, while the others had hundreds of thousands on the table. To those experienced and wealthy men, he looked like a child who had barely grown enough to sit at their table. They turned their attentions to the others,  mentally planning how they were going to play. Jason grinned cunningly. If they were going to underestimate him because he didn''t have as much money, that made things much easier.


    An hour later, the game was over. He had won, using all the <del>cheats</del> skills he had,  and had taken the pot. He had made $670,000.  He quickly spent 15,000 on drinks for the whole casino. As people began drinking and getting rowdy, Jason quickly and quietly converted his chips into cash. As he was leaving, he noticed security eyeing him. He grabbed a mostly empty bottle as he headed down a hallway towards a side exit.


    "Excuse me Sir! Please stop!" A security guard said, catching up to Jason as he reached the exit. Jason asked the officer what he wanted, assuming a drunken tone. "Sir we have reason to believe you may have been cheating." The officer''s hand moved towards a holster on his hip and grinned."Now if you''ll give the money to me, maybe you won''t have to go  into custody-" The guard didn''t get to finish as the bottle that had been in Jason''s left hand slammed against the right side of his face. This was followed by a hit from the briefcase carrying the money, which hit the same area. The guard lost consciousness instantly.


    Like hell Jason was going to get extorted for over  600k by some security guard. With that amount of money, he could win the bidding war for the car without even having to hit other casinos, and still have a little left over. He ran to his car and swiftly drove back to his home. I''ve safely made it back, and now in a week, The Bankai shall be mine! MINE!!!! Jason thought maniacally to himself as he opened the door.


    When he opened the door, he saw something which made him drop the briefcase, even with its important contents. The weird statue, which looked like an imp made of bronze, was unwrapped, and was looking at him, swinging its tail back and forth. "Finally, I''ve been waiting for ages!  Oh well, time to go~" It said with a maniacal smile that was made even more intimidating by its impish face. Before  Jason could flee, There was a flash of bright light, then ...nothing.


    When Jason woke up, he noticed two things immediately. 1. He was outdoors, laying on grass. 2. It was early morning, and the moon was still slightly visible but... there was more than one moon?  Shaking  his head,  he struggled to his feet, feeling slightly hung over, though he hadn''t actually drunk last night. Then he looked around, and saw hundreds of people around him. most were still unconscious, but some like him were struggling to their feet,  attempting to understand their situation.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Jason looked around him, trying to get a general understanding of where he was. He noticed the grassy area that the people were in was slightly elevated, and that they were completely surrounded by forests.  He could see that there was a singular mountain some miles away, with an actual mountain range alot  further away.  What he was looking for was smoke on the horizon, or something that looked like civilization. He was lucky he had read several survival manga  and had an idea of what to look  for.


    After a few minutes, he didn''t see anything noteworthy, and instead began to inspect himself and make a few deductions. He must have been drugged, it would explain his headache and his hallucinations regarding the moon and that statue. That implied that whoever it was needed to move  him long distance without a chance for  him to escape. He had no restraints on him, which implied that once he woke up, there would be no need for them, which further implied that wherever they were, their chances of escape were negligible, but they probably weren''t being held hostage. He pushed his glasses up, imitating a certain Shiroe. Which brought him to another point.  His clothes, wallet, everything was exactly as it had been on the night he was taken.


    If you don''t want our money, and aren''t holding us hostage, why are we still alive? Jason thought to himself. As he had been thinking, a good number of people had woken up. Upon further inspection, there were people of all different ethnicities. All sorts of languages were being spoken,  and people were taking all kinds of actions. Some had began praying, others began trying to talk to one another, others had began fighting, suspecting that one of them must have brought them to this place.


    All of a sudden, a figure  appeared over them with popping sound. It looked just like...the statue?  "Oh hai folks!" it said in the same annoying childlike voice Jason remembered from the night he was taken. " I''m  Vira Zin a.k.a god of misfortune a.k.a The Mad God a.k.a your mommy''s secret lover a.k.a OP-ness incarnated! Yous peoples must have lotsa questions... i dont really care though!" The imp-like creature spoke while switching accents several times in a way that was incredibly annoying.


    "Imma still give a lil back story though, so pump ya brakes!  Right now, the one true God is busy  keeping the universe from breaking and shit. I could explain why its breaking, yet I fear thine mortal brains shan''t be able to handle it. Basically, its like totally  expanding  reaaally~ fast, so like, God is totes holding it together using his own being as a catalyst, awesome right? As they say though, if the cats away, the mice shall play, and I decided to steal a few of you from the world he treats oh so well!"


    The imps voice suddenly became serious. "You earth humans seem to have completely forgotten your place. I dont see why God favors you, at least humans on my planet can actually do magic! And then you earth scum actually went so far as to create your own worlds, as if you were on the level of gods. Your virtual reality is an insult to us, though the others are to cowardly to do anything."


    After this, the mad god seemed to regain is original annoying air. "Some of you may be asking ''well what does this have to do with me?'' and the answer is absolutely nothing~! I chose you guys at random, I couldnt take that many though, or God would notice, even if he is holding together the universe. You totally don''t wanna be punished by God, trust me. Anway, I''m bored. You peoples are here to fix that. Entertain me and you may be rewarded~. You may possibly even be able to go home! Although this world is closer to the brink of the universe, so time runs faster here. Its already been a week on your planet! So anyway... at.. ng..."


    Whatever the imp was saying was currently being  zoned out by Jason. It''s been a week? Then.... the auction''s already over? I went through all that trouble, made hundreds of thousands of dollars which  is probably gone now, and am possibly a wanted man for beating down that guard...only to no even have a CHANCE to get the Bankai? All because of the damned imp????!!! I dont care if it is a god, I want to kill it! Jason''s rage was almost palpable, and people around him all moved away instinctively. Little did Jason know that the god sensed his killing intent, and had mentally marked him down as one of the possibly interesting ones


    "So now  its almost time for me to cast ye out O little lambs!  to make it more interesting for myself I''ll give you guys three presents,cause you would probably die in the first week without them~!  first *snaps* I''ve given you all the ability to speak one language, the language of this world. the second, is up to you. It''s a transformation ability, say whatever animal you want to be able to turn into, and its done, i suggest you pick something that''s most like you though~"


    "Dragon!" "Unicorn" "god!" People began shouting out all kinds of things, mostly mythical beings. Fools. Jason thought to himself, lamenting the foolishness of the people around him.  The imp-god had said pick something most like you, obviously this meant something.  And why would you just shout it out? now everyone around you knows what you are! Whatever, I have no time to think about others, I need to choose my own... Jason thought about the way he his personality traits. He was mainly cunning, patient,  analytical and  adaptive.  There were several animals which could fit that description, but two main ones stood out. He knew he didnt want to be a spider, so he chose the alternative.


    "Snake" Jason said quietly. It wasnt exactly  what he wanted to be, and it certainly wasnt heroic, but that was the closest thing to what Jason was from his point of view. After a few minutes, the imp said it was time for the last gift. "Now  my puppets, choose an active ability like shooting out fire or something. Its up to you morons, but u should probably choose something  you actually know alot about."


    Jason was stuck now. Sure he was smart, but he payed no attention in high school and eventually dropped out. This was due to his self-diagnosed  ADW, a disease that makes him only (A)ble to (D)o what he (W)ants.  He had this disorder in common with a certain Kagami Junichirou.  But he didn''t really know much besides gambling and anime. He had an excellent understanding of plenty of anime abilities... but he wasn''t sure if that could be depended on as most of them broke physics. should he choose something pertaining to gambling? But every thing aout that, he could do without some special ability. Then it hit him. He understood anime! "Animation" Jason said. He immediately regretted it. How would he use animation to defend himself?


    "All right kiddies~ you guys do whatever you can to entertain me if you ever want a chance at going home! This world is pretty hard to live in so do your best to live, or die. I dont really care! Oh by the way~ The way your abilities work, if youre not satisfied with them, you can get new ones by somehow eating the other earth peoples! I hope you guys chose carnivorous transformations!  Bai Bai now, and remember, I''m always watching!"  The mad god vanished after that,  leaving the people with a sense of uncertainty as they looked around, some wondering if people would actually eat each other just to survive, others wondering which among them would be easiest to eat. All of them however knew one thing: Very few of them would ever make it home.

 Chapter 2- What is it worth?

    Jason doubled over in pain as he clutched his stomach. Tears flowed down from his eyes unceasingly. As hard as he tried, he could not regain his breath. He was on the verge of death.... from laughter. It had been a few hours since the mad god had disappeared. The transformation powers began to appear first, however...


    "What the hell is this?" A man cried. He had been the first to awaken his transformation powers. He like many others, had chosen ¡¯Dragon¡¯ as his transformation. However, what he received was probably not what he expected. He was most certainly a dragon, only¡­ he was around a meter long. Oh my god he looks like spyro! Jason thought, laughing out loud.


    Many transformations had similar problems. Ugly unicorns that looked more like donkeys with small or thin horns, gods who were pretty much the same as they were in their human form, albeit sometimes they glowed, or rarely, their clothing changed. And of course, there were plenty of the spyro-like dragons.


    They weren¡¯t all failures though. One dragon was actually a good 6 meters long. One person who had chosen ¡®Bull¡¯ as their transformation was gigantic, being at least 8 meters long. They must be more like their respective animals. Jason thought. Jason also awakened his  soon after. He instinctively knew how to activate it.


    He, however, was not stupid enough to transform in front of everyone. Instead, he tried a little experiment. He began the transformation, but only barely.  Just as he thought, scales began to appear. They were mainly black, with a silvery gray color along the rims.


    After around half an hour, he began to get the hang of partial transformation. He found out he could also activate his snake senses. When he did so, he was amazed. he could see heat signatures, and his eyes could focus on things and zoom in, it was all too much information for him though, and he quickly reverted to his human senses. What is Orochimaru? He has nothing on me! Jason thought happily.


    Soon after, the other abilities began to kick in. Jason had thought the transformational abilities¡¯ results were hilarious, but the direct abilities would be even more funny. many people had chosen [electricity] as their ability. It had a lot of uses, so theoretically, it had to be one of the best abilities too have.The results were that half of the people only built up enough static to make their hair stick out, while many of the rest overcharged and electrocuted themselves.


    Then, the fire users ended up burning their clothes off, which many people rather enjoyed. Jason realized when he felt his own ability activate that you didn¡¯t instinctively know how to use it like the other ability. He knew the ability was there, but he didn¡¯t have a feeling of how to use [Animation]. This is why the imp-god thing said to pick something you know a lot about. Jason realized. He only had a few guesses as to how to use his ability, but he could only try out one in his current location.


    He placed his hand on the ground and whispered ¡°animate¡±. The earth beneath his hand began to move violently as per his will, then after Jason stopped his ability, it calmed down. Jason felt slightly tired after using his ability.[b] So it drains you physically huh¡­ although that may just be for me, other people may pay different costs.[/b] Everyone was busy looking at the people who were activating their abilities, or trying to make friends that no one really noticed Jason off by himself on the outskirts of the glade¡­ or so he thought.


    A small group of around nine approached Jason. A person dressed like he was about to work out and  who seemed to be the leader spoke to him. ¡° Yo what¡¯s up man, we¡¯ve been watching you. You''re not like these idiots who are making spectacles of themselves. It¡¯s not safe here, and we¡¯re leaving, in fact the smarter ones already left. Wanna come with?¡± Jason smiled. He was surprised that the man knew that others had already left. Jason of course had seen them, as he was on the edge of the glade. He watched a few dozen sneak off either by themselves or in very small groups. The 6 meter dragon had also flown away silently after people lost interest in it flying around.


    ¡°Thanks man, but I¡¯m not leaving quite yet. This is probably the only time when  these fools will be open enough to show off their abilities, and I want to have as much info as possible.¡± Jason  turned the guy down politely, and for a legitimate reason.This group was only leaving so as to get the jump on the others, but they probably didn¡¯t know exactly good of an idea it was to leave before nightfall. He had read enough psychological manga to guess what would happen that night, but still, he felt he needed to see it, to steel his heart. He couldn¡¯t afford to be soft, He had seen plenty of MC¡¯s in a situation where they should¡¯ve died due to naivete(of course they wouldn''t actually die because they''re the mc).


    ¡°Alright bro, that¡¯s on you. We¡¯re heading towards that mountain though. Here, I¡¯m not sure exactly what your transformation is, but if its any good, you should be able to find me with this.¡± The man  wan took off a bandana that was tied around his arm and gave it to Jason. Most animals had a higher sense of smell than human beings, so it was a fair assumption. The group left shortly after.


    Jason spent the rest of the time watching people. A few others had the sense to leave, but most stayed in order come up with some sort of plan of action with the others. People had stopped showing off and playing with their abilities, but Jason memorized the faces and abilities of the strongest ones.


    As the sun set, people began to group together and sleep. The sheep are sleeping, now its time for the wolves to show their colors. After a few hours of night, and after the flames from the fires had died down, and the lights had become low, the first screams were heard. In the low lights and shadows, everyone began to panic, no one could see what was going on. But Jason knew without even needing to see.


    A group of the people were killing the others. It was only to be expected after that last line from the imp, stating that they could get stronger from eating each other. Using pure logic, devoid of morals, it made perfect sense. If you won the favor of that god somehow, you could go home. The best way to be interesting was to somehow make an impact on this world, but for that you would need power, and the easiest, quickest way to get it was to eat the people around you before they got too strong to take down.


    But that was only using pure logic. For these people,  it was probably as simple as eat or be eaten.  Different groups began fighting back after they realized what was going on, but  some actually joined in on the slaughter. People who could fly tried to do so,  only to be hunted by the devourers who could do the same. There was fire and lightning being fired everywhere, and the skies were a battleground for  dragons and birds of prey. Everywhere Jason looked, there was violence.  It horrified him¡­ and yet the taste of blood in the air was somehow¡­ sweet.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Jason was immediately  disgusted with himself. How could he enjoy this? then his tongue flicked out inadvertently and he realized. It was the snake inside him reacting. His sync rate with the snake was fairly high, so he must be taking on its attributes.  I need to leave this place before I do something I¡¯ll regret. Jason already felt himself getting excited at the idea of the hunt. he began to walk away from the fighting, but all of a sudden he felt pain in his left shoulder, then he was on the floor, having spasms.


    ¡°Whoa there, we have a runner!¡±  A man approached Jason leisurely from behind. The man talked down to Jason in a condescending tone. ¡°I saw you talking to that group that left,  you should¡¯ve went with them if you were going to be this weak.  But damn, my dragon transformation may suck, but this electricity works pretty well as a taser once you get the hang of it. Now be a good boy and let me eat you, ¡®kay?¡± The man became a 3 meter long dragon with horns that looked somewhat like antlers.


    Little did he know, those would be the last words he spoke. Now I have to , right? It¡¯s kill or be killed now, right? It¡¯s just one guy, and it¡¯s self defense, so I¡¯m definitely not wrong.  Yes, it¡¯s fine.  Jason had made up his mind to kill the man. For the first time, he activated his transformation completely. The dragon that was about to eat him now stared in horror. Jason¡¯s spasms had stopped. Black scales covered his body, and shown with a silvery brilliance. His body had grown to be around 18 meters long, and  when he opened his eyes, the dragon saw that they were  a glowing pale silver.


    The dragon could no longer move, staring into Jason¡¯s eyes.  ¡°You sssssshould have left me be.¡± Jason  hissed at the dragon, before biting its head off and then devouring the rest of it whole.  several of the man¡¯s comrades saw this, and were about to avenge him,but one look into Jason¡¯s eyes let them know the difference between them. Jason then calmly slithered away into the forest.


    What the hell was that?? Jason thought after he switched back to human form around two miles away. He hadn¡¯t planned to eat the guy, only hit him with his tail and kill him. If the guy had just been knocked unconscious, he would have been fine with that too. but when he became the snake, all that changed.  His predatory instincts kicked in and he simply acted according to them. How dare that puny dragon think of eating him? Insolent whelp.


    Suddenly, Jason felt a change run through him.  He realized he could now use electricity like the man had, though somehow, it felt weaker. He also knew there had been a change in his snake form. He transformed and realized he now had two appendages sticking out of his body. two thin arms with three long clawed fingers and an opposable one each. He also had the antler like horns, however, he had no wings. God, I look like black Shenron Jason thought to himself as he slithered over to a nearby stream to wash himself.


    Suddenly Jason realized something was wrong, he saw a large group of heat signatures heading for the camp, but from the smell and taste in the air, they were not human, no they were something much more foul. I need allies,I don''t think even i could handle that many of whatever those are. Oh yeah, there was that group. I should head towards that mountain.Jason tucked his new arms in and slithered for the mountain at a breakneck pace that surprised even him. It took him only a around two hours to reach the mountain,  and he soon detected ten heat signatures.


    He slithered towards them fairly quickly, then, right before he reached their camp, he resumed his human form. He walked into the small clearing to find that many people already had their abilities pointed in his direction. One woman¡¯s blue flames looked particularly dangerous. "Whoa whoa whoa, calm down I¡¯m just here to talk!¡± Jason said quickly. The people quickly cancelled their abilities. and relaxed. The leader-type guy from before stepped forward.


    ¡°Hey man, you reconsidered? Sorry for almost killing you, but Lee heard something big coming at us really fast, so we were kinda scared!¡± he said, with a big smile.  he had numerous small wounds on his body, as did the others. ¡°Oh yeah, there are things in this forest man, I think they¡¯re goblins or something, but around sundown, they started attacking us, luckily we have Sabrina here¡± the man said, pointing at the blue flames user.


    ¡°Yeah, I know, around 75 of them were heading for the old glade.¡±  Jason said. The man was speechless. Immediately, he and his group talked about making plans to go back and  save the others. Jason interjected however. ¡°No, you don¡¯t want to go back there. its not the goblins you have to worry about. They were probably drawn out by the smell of blood. It¡¯s the people that you should fear.¡± Jason then recounted what he had seen to the group, leaving his own part out.


    The group was horrified. they had kind of expected some violence, but not wide scale cannibalism. While they talked about it, Sabrina had something else in mind, which she soon voiced. ¡°If everything was as bad as you say, then how did you survive?¡± She asked Jason coldly. Jason looked back just as coldly and simply asked ¡° How do you think I survived?¡± The question needed no answer. Quiet rushed over the group. ¡°Rick, this guy can''t stay with us. If he does, I¡¯m leaving.¡± Sabrina stated. She didn''t want to be together with a possible murderer. The leader-guy, apparently Rick,  immediately  tried to change her mind. before long, the group was split in half over whether Jason could stay or not.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m leaving.¡± Jason said. He knew that if he stayed, the group would split up, and in their low-morale, they would mess up at a crucial moment and everyone would die. But it was okay, he was used to being alone anyway.  Rick looked at him apologetically. ¡°Come on bro, don¡¯t look like that, here, if you ever need to find me, use this. By the way, the name¡¯s Jason, Jason Delacroix.¡±  Jason took off his tie, and gave it to Rick who took it and said, ¡°Ricardo Rodriguez.¡± the two shook hands, and then Jason left the clearing the same way he had entered: Alone.

 Chapter three- Hope?

    Jason staggered to the ground after electrocuting himself. Again. It had been three days since he arrived in this hell hole of a world. He had been trying for the last few hours to master his new electric ability because he desperately needed a new offensive technique. He had been attacked by goblins several times. The first few times, he took his snake form in order to kill them, but he quickly tired of that. Goblins tasted horrible.


    He got lucky though, and discovered that one of the bigger goblins wielded a meal club similar to the only weapon Jason had ever used: a bat. In the subsequent fights, he fought by partially transforming his arms for greater strength while swinging the bat back and forth, completely crushing his foes. However, he wasn¡¯t actually used to fighting, and got cut by the enemies¡¯ swords several times.


    He needed something long range to whittle the enemies numbers down before they got to him, then he remembered his electricity. However, his body couldn¡¯t handle the electric build up past a certain point and he kept shocking himself. It wasn''t as funny as it was a few days ago, when he was watching others do the same thing.


    Now, instead of  charging the electricity up, he simply let it surge and discharge through his fingers, creating an electric bolt. This must be how that guy stunned me, Jason thought, as he inspected the small amount of damage on the tree he was aiming at. Hmmm, if my body can¡¯t handle the electricity, then maybe¡­


    Jason put his hands near each other, as if he were about to clap. Then he bent his fingers and began letting the electricity surge through through them. instead of gathering electricity inside, he gathered it outside, and watched it form a small, crackling yellow orb between his palms. Then, he let the energy in the orb discharge energy from a single point. the result was a moderately powerful bolt of lightning which destroyed the tree and caused a small fire, which Jason put out by animating the dirt.


    His animate ability could be used for combat by animating the earth to form spears or tentacles, but it drained him physically, and since he stayed on the move, he couldn''t have that. The electrical ability only drained him mentally, or gave him a headache if he used it too much, so he decided to use it as hi main offensive.


    He tried using his electricity with his bat, and after a few more hours of electrocuting himself, discovered that if he let the lightning flow  out of the small spike at the end of the bat instead of trying to swing it like a certain Sephiroth-slayer, he could shoot it out.


    By then, it was getting late. He took his snake form and hunted down a deer. It much easier to get sustenance in this form since he had no experience in hunting. After that, he headed over to a cave he had found earlier. The goblins that had lived there fled when they saw him approach.Guess I''m getting a bit of a reputation. They are lucky I have no wish to hunt them down. Inferior creatures. Jason hissed  slightly while thinking these things.


    After making sure the cave was empty, Jason reassumed his human form.  He pondered his thoughts from earlier. he had never thought so violently before, but somehow, it didn¡¯t seem wrong. Those foul creatures had dared to attack him, though he had left them alone. They were lucky he didn¡¯t eradicate their weak species.


    Jason realized that this thought process was more likely influenced more by the dragon than the snake in him. The snake simply wished to hunt until it was full, then be left alone, but the dragon was prideful and territorial. Luckily, the dragon in him was weaker, which was why he could only grow a pair of arms in his snake form, not wings or any other appendages. Or so Jason theorized.


    Jason looked  around the cave and found various things. He found the armory first. He took a look at the armor, but it was all small and low quality, so he couldn¡¯t wear it.  He looked for a better bat, but didn''t find one, so he left that area. He then found the treasury and the dragon in him was instantly aroused. There were no great gems ar fantastic treasures, but there was gold silver, copper, and pretty ores that Jason did not recognize. All of a sudden, he heard cries from further in the cave.


    He switched to his snake eyes and saw around 15 weak heat signatures towards the rear of the cave.  wielding his bat, he carefully advanced towards the cries, and discovered several hostages. But they didn¡¯t exactly look human. They were all around 5¡¯0 tall, with lithe figures and long pointy ears.  Half of them were crying over the body of another hostage which actually was human.


    She was a black haired girl with a slightly pretty face, pale skin, and a body with subtle curves. And she seemed to be dead. ¡°Help us!¡± called one of the prisoners, finally noticing him. ¡°She¡¯s dead! We couldn''t use healing magic with these chains on!¡± the female prisoner cried. It¡¯s impressive that they are concerned with this woman, even though freedom is right in front of them. Oh well, I''ve been wanting to try this out for a while now, so I might as well help them out.


    ¡°How long has she been dead?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I think five minutes,  hurry and get these chains off us so we can help her!¡± The female prisoner said, tears overflowing from her eyes. ¡°Stop it Deineres! We all know that healing magic can''t bring back the dead! Besides, you only knew her two days, get over it!¡± A male prisoner said with a frown.


    ¡°Move¡± Jason told them. The prisoners remained crying over the woman¡¯s dead body. With a sigh, Jason switched to his dragon voice, and with a voice so  deep it scared even him, he repeated the command ¡°Move¡±. Instantaneously, everyone was against the wall. Jason approached the woman, and put a hand on her midsection. He activated his animation ability, but the chuuni in him couldn¡¯t resist saying saying ¡°Forbidden Technique:Impure World Resurrection! Animate!¡±


    The woman¡¯s eyes slowly opened. they were a dark green, with flecks of blue. ¡°W-what the¡­ didn¡¯t I die?¡± She whispered. All the prisoners¡¯ faces were pale, with fear in their eyes. the female one spoke up. ¡°Y-y-y-y-yes, you did Alize. But that um¡­ nice necromancer saved you I think.¡± She was sure to smile at Jason towards the end. Jason sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not a necromancer. This wouldn¡¯t have even worked if her brain had been dead. Or rather it would have I think, but  she wouldn¡¯t be conscious.¡± Jason said with a tired voice. Animating the woman had taken more out of him than anything else he had done with his abilities.


    Jason dragged himself to the wall opposite of the cell, where the keys were hung in plain view of the captives, just to make them suffer.  He unlocked the first set of chains, then let the prisoner he freed do the rest.  The female prisoner, Deineres, quickly began releasing energy from her palms, directed at Jason. He began to feel better, and regain strength.


    ¡°Deineres what are you doing? he¡¯s a necromancer! They''re evil remember? We need to hurry and escape to-¡± Deineres quicly cut the male prisoner off. ¡°Escape to where Calex?  The village was burnt down!  What, do you think the high elves will let us in?  Good luck with that! This person saved us and now, not only do you want to leave without thanks, you want to leave him to possibly die! Shame on you.¡± Jason  smiled. This chick sure knows how to talk,  he thought to himself.


    Jason soon felt strong enough to stand, and he quickly did so. ¡°You guys are free to go wherever you want. I¡¯m staying here for the night though.¡± He walked off, looking for the store rooms.  He still felt a little drained and wanted something to eat.  He realized that the prisoners were following him. He stopped and looked back at them and they flinched. Jason sighed yet again.


    ¡°What do you want, I said you¡¯re free. Stop following me¡± Jason said. He felt kind of uncomfortable. Deineres fidgeted a little, then spoke ¡°We don¡¯t.. exactly have anywhere to go. Plus its nighttime and its dangerous outside sooooo, can we possibly stay here? We¡¯ll be no trouble I swear!¡± Jason thought for a moment, then said ¡°Fine.  the name¡¯s Jason Delacroix, you can call me Jason.¡± With that, he continued through the cave.


    He found the storeroom, but some the food in there was rotten. After he started separating the bad from the good,  the former prisoners began to help.  He didn''t exactly like talking to people a lot, but he felt it was awkward to work next to someone in silence so he made some conversation. ¡° So, what race are you.¡± He asked. The elf looked at him like he asked what the sun was, then her face changed into one of understanding.


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    ¡°Ahh you must be one of those strange humans like Alize. She didn¡¯t know what we were either. We are sylvan elves. You, like Alize ar probably surprised about our height, the elves you are thinking of are high elves. Condescending bastards. They don¡¯t exactly like us very much. We¡¯re too lowly and short lived of a race for them¡±  Alize said with obvious disdain.


    This made two things clear for Jason. One, there were multiple races, at least four, of sentient beings. Two, Alize was from Earth. This didn¡¯t make it clear if she was an enemy or not though. Jason made small talk with Deineres for a while after that, then, once the rotten food was thrown out, he began to cook.


    Jason was no  5-star chef, but he was a decent cook. He was from louisiana, and was well-versed in the local cuisine. once he began cooking, the smell was impeccable. the elves began to gather around him and plead that he make whatever foreign dish that was for them too. Jason sighed and agreed. He noticed he began to sigh a lot lately.In the course of an hour, he cooked several fine dishes. they took their food o the main branch of the cave and ate around a small fire.


    Jason noticed Alize wasn¡¯t with them and asked about it. Deineres¡¯ eyes widened ¡°Oh no, she must still be in the cell, When she died the first time, she had been sick, we need to go check on her now!¡± She said, and then she dragged Jason through the cave to the cell. Sure enough, there lied Alize, panting softly as she sat against the wall. ¡°Alize! What¡¯s wrong!?¡± said Deineres as she rushed towards Alize, trying to heal her. Jason looked over the girl with a suspicious eye, then spoke. ¡°Alize. You¡¯re from earth too right? You have some sort of disease?¡±


    ¡°Alize opened her eyes and shook her head with a slight smile. ¡°No disease, for my superpower thingy¡­ chose vampiric constitution¡­  But I don¡¯t want to kill anyone again... hahaha, stupid huh?¡± Alize replied weakly. Jason looked over the girl. He knew how to save her now, but didn¡¯t know if he would. His mind knew she was a possible threat. But something told him that letting her die wasn¡¯t right.  As he argued with himself mentally,  Deineres looked up at him, then got on her knees and begged him ¡°Please! I¡¯ll do whatever you ask of me, so please Jason!¡±


    Jason couldn¡¯t just ignore that.  after the events of his first night on this planet, being forced to murder someone, being rejected by others, Jason had prepared himself to be heartless. To care for himself, and only himself. But he realized at that moment, while the woman in front of him selflessly begged for the life of another whom she had known less than a week, that he couldn¡¯t do it. He couldn¡¯t completely shut his heart away. If I regret this later, so be it.


    Jason transformed his finger into a talon and made a small incision on his forearm. He pressed it to Alize¡¯s mouth. ¡°Drink.¡± He said. She tried to resist and push his arm away.  He firmly put it back. ¡°It¡¯s ok, drink.¡± The woman slowly began to suck blood from his arm. Her hair began to regain luster. Her skin, though still pale, no longer looked sickly, and her eyes began to glow a deep crimson. Jason took his arm away from her once he saw her condition improve.


    Alize looked disappointed, but shrugged and stood up. She looked radiant now under the torchlight.  The blood seemed to invigorate her and enhance her beauty.  She notice Jason looking her over and winked at him before speaking. ¡°My name is Alizea Brasi, you can call me Alize, thank you for saving me twice now, Mr¡­..¡±


    ¡°Delacroix. Jason Delacroix, it was a pleasure to do so Ms. Brasi¡± Jason said, making his voice a little deeper, and using his best southern gentleman persona.  He was strangely attracted to Alizea, and the dragon within him only intensified this. Alizea looked as though she realized something, and put on  a pair of lightly cracked glasses she had in a pocket ¡°Ah I¡¯m sorry Jason, you looked into my eyes while they were red right?  They tend to bewitch people. Sorry, part of my vampiric constitution, i should¡¯ve warned you.¡± She said with an apologetic look.


    Jason turned away, and felt the strange attraction begin to dissipate, but not fully leave.¡±I-I see. anyway, I¡¯ll be leaving¡± Jason said as he  quickly slipped out the room. I was careless, he thought to himself while trying to suppress his lustful thoughts. He  went over to the front of the cave and activated  his snake vision. Seeing that no one was coming, he asked a couple of elves to sleep in turns and stand guard in case goblins attempt to reclaim the cave. He promptly went to sleep after that.


    When he woke up again, it was early morning. He gathered his belongings and began preparing to leave. When he reached the mouth of the cave, he saw all the elves along with  Alize already waiting for him while staring. ¡°Uhhh good morning¡± he said, while walking past them. Ooookaay that wasn¡¯t creepy at all. Jason thought. Then they began to follow him wordlessly. Nope, definitely not creepy at all.


    ¡°Ummm what are you guys doing?¡± Jason asked, though he had an inkling as to what was going on. Deineres spoke for the group. ¡°We¡¯re following you! You set us free, and we have nowhere else to go!¡± For some odd reason she said these words with pride. ¡° Yeeeeeaaah, don''t do that. I¡¯m by myself. I intend to stay that way. I''m sure yours wasn¡¯t the only village for sylvan elves, why don''t you go join them?¡± Jason said


    Jason had seen enough betrayal his first night on this planet to know that it was very possible to be betrayed by people you don''t know who seem like they''re your allies, but as soon as something goes wrong, their true colors show. If it hadn¡¯t been for that, the one group who started the killing that night would have been quickly suppressed.


    Deineres spoke again. ¡°There are some around two weeks south from here, but we are houseless! We will be treated as dregs of society!¡± Jason looked at her confusedly and said ¡°Can''t you just build a new house when you get there?¡± Deineres looked at him as if he were crazy, then rubbed her temples in  frustration. ¡°By house, I mean family, a house is like a group of families under one banner. Ours were destroyed in the war with the goblins and orcs¡±


    Jason understood the pain of an outcast. he had felt it throughout his teenage years. But he knew that was nothing compared to how these elves must feel. but still, he had to think of himself first. ¡°Then why not found a new house with the survivors of your village, or join a different one I¡¯m sure Alize will help you.¡± He said while motioning towards Alize. Deineres¡¯ face brightened up, as if she had a brilliant idea.


    ¡°Join a new house, eh? I think I¡¯ll do just that! I, Deineres, shall join the house Delacroix! Who shall join me?!¡± Deineres shouted. All at once, the  elves, even Calex whom Jason thought hated him, started chanting in unison. ¡°I swear fealty to the house Delacroix. I and my family shall serve loyally, pridefully, and shall bring honor to mine house. I swear these words by my blood.¡± While they said these words, a strange red colored energy began to gather in their hands which covered their hearts. When they finished, It shot towards Jason¡¯s left hand, leaving a symbol which looked like four squares interlocking.


    Jason was stupefied. He could guess what had just happened, he had watched enough fantasy anime to know that at least. But why? ¡°Why would you do that? I¡¯m not entirely sure what you just did, but I¡¯m sure it can¡¯t just be undone. We just met yesterday!¡±


    Deineres looked him directly in his eyes.¡±Because we owe you our lives, We have nowhere to go and no purpose for living. If we leave on our own, most of us will die at the hands of goblins. And after witnessing your powers, I kinda think going with you would be exciting.¡± She said the last part with a slight smile. ¡°Now, shall we go? I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t plan to leave your FAMILY behind. Don¡¯t worry about anything else, this Deineres Delacroix won¡¯t disappoint you!¡±


    Jason sighed. Now he was stuck with them. Even if he tried to abandon him, they could probably find him though that magic they put on him. He turned around and started walking. ¡° I¡¯ll leave you behind if you slow me down.¡± He said over his shoulder.


    The elves followed him with relief,  they knew Jason could have still rejected them. As for him, Jason felt a little joy in his heart.  They may be using him for protection, or plotting to kill him, or a number of other things he could imagine. But it felt good to be wanted. So, with good vibes in the air, the newly founded house of Delacroix moved out.

 Chapter 4- Journey to the west... call me Son Goku!

    A fire crackled in the night. Jason and the others had made it halfway to the mountain range he had seen on his first day. They would have been further, but he couldn¡¯t resist going back to the cave for the gold. The elves also took that opportunity to arm themselves with goods from the armory.


    Apparently there was elven armor the goblins had looted. It shined like metal, and yet it was thin and folded like leather. Apparently, it was enchanted leather made by sacrificing the essence of a lump of iron. This essence included the iron¡¯s hardness and other qualities. The result was that the iron became a brittle lump of dull metal, while the leather became strong and metallic.


    The swords they wielded were almost exactly like katanas from his own world, except there was no guard and the blade was all one piece, as if someone had pulled its form out of a solid block of steel.They were incredibly light and sharp, and as the elves practiced with them, Jason wondered how in the world they lost to those goblins


    They traveled west the whole day, bringing them to their current point. As the fire  slowly cooked some fowl that Deineres had caught, Jason decided to try and get to know the elves. He started with the one he figured disliked him the most, Calex.


    Jason approached and spoke first.  ¡°Hey,  we never did introduce ourselves. I¡¯m Jason.¡± Calex looked up  from a picture he was idly drawing with a thin piece of charcoal. ¡°I¡¯m Calex Delacroix, glad to be of service.¡± Although he said this without malice, and with a smile on his face, It still made Jason feel slightly odd. They were all using his last name now and it was somewhat odd to him,


    ¡°Hey¡­ are you guys seriously going to use my last name from now on? In fact, I didn''t even think that you liked me.¡± Calex  stopped drawing and looked at Jason before responding


    ¡°Yes, we joined your house, and thus we are obligated to use your last name at the end of our own. As for me not liking you, I''m sorry. its not like I didn''t like you, more accurately, I was afraid of you. My imprisonment had weakened me, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. Someone had finally come and set us free, and all i could think was ¡®what kind of monster could make goblins run in fear?¡¯ All i wanted to do was run. Run until I couldn¡¯t anymore. And for that, I ask that you excuse my previous conduct.¡±


    Jason was unused to such candid honesty and was at a loss for words. ¡°A-ah I see, don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s in the past. what are you drawing though?¡± Calex¡¯s face lit up as he showed Jason his work of art. It was of a war between the sylvan elves and the goblin-orc alliance. Except in his art, the elves were gaining the upper hand. Jason saw that the detail was incredible, especially for  only using the equivalent of a pencil.


    Suddenly he had an idea. He reached out and touched the picture while activating his animate ability. The was seemed to come to life as the elves vanquished the enemy and drove them away in around one minute. then the picture reverted to the way it was. ¡°What was that? that was incredible! It¡¯s not magic so i don''t understand. How do you do that?¡± Calex asked, his voice full of excitement.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ my ability. I''m not entirely sure how it works myself, but hey, you draw anything else, Ill animate it for you. Hmmm, It seems like each scene is a minute, so try to do around 22 connected scenes, I think you¡¯ll like the outcome.¡± Jason said. He stayed composed outside, but inside, he was screaming for joy. Finally, He would have anime!


    Jason left Calex who began drawing right away, and decided to talk to Alize. She saw him coming, and greeted him with a smile. ¡°Well if it isnt the family man, what¡¯s up Jason?¡±she said. ¡° Yo, Alize, how you holding up? Is it hard for you during the day, with your vampirism and all?¡±


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    ¡°Oh no, I can handle it. I¡¯m just not as strong during the day, and sunlight irritates my skin. You know, surprisingly this whole vampirism thing isn¡¯t that bad, other than constantly thirsting for the blood of everyone in the immediate vicinity.¡± Alize said with a slight smile. Jason laughed, he definitely knew the feeling.


    ¡°Yeah, I feel you. The dragon in me wants to just take the gold and the women and hole up in a mountain somewhere. While the snake just wants to hunt all day. I, on the other hand,  just want to get home so i can watch the shows I have recording on my dvr.¡± Jason said. Alize¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    Then she asked ¡°You¡­ you have more than one transformation? You ate someone?¡± Jason stopped smiling, and responded truthfully ¡°Yes. it was the night everything went crazy. Some dragon guy attacked me, and the snake within me thirsted for blood. After that, well you can guess what happened.¡±


    Alize sighed, ¡°I too killed someone that night. I, in my foolishness, thought that we would be fine if we all stayed together. As you well know, i was proven wrong. As I ran into the forest, a man followed me. He had super speed, and could have caught me at anytime he wished. My transformation is bat, and I¡¯m a fairly big one at that, but as soon as I would transform, He would already be on top of me, and would give me several super fast blows to the head, sending me back to the ground.¡±


    ¡°Soon I couldn''t run anymore, and he made his intentions clear. he wished to¡­ violate me. As he approached, the moon shined directly upon us, and my bloodlust was awakened. I waited until he was very near, and then I drained him dry. Apparently that counted as eating because I gained his abilities. After that though, I was horrified at what I had done, horrified that i had loved the taste and the feel of blood going down my throat, and ran from the scene until I fell unconscious. When I woke I was in the goblin cave and the rest you know.¡±


    Jason knew full well the power of bloodthirst. He could resist better now, as he had gotten used to it, but that first night, it was impossible. ¡°Well, let¡¯s do our best not to eat people together, hmm?¡± Jason said. Alize giggled and agreed. ¡°Okay, but I¡¯m gonna need a little of your blood tonight, k?¡± She said  with a wink, and a smile. With a sigh, Jason began preparing his arm.


    They traveled for two weeks heading west towards more civilized areas. As they traveled, They crossed several rivers. Deineres informed the two from earth that this world didn''t have very many large bodies of water, rather, it was crisscrossed by many rivers. Apparently the ones they were crossing now were mere trickles of water compared to most of the rivers.


    Jason and Alize also began learning magic from the elves. Jason was able to ius magic right off due to his connection with the elves. The symbol on his hand had opened his own magical vessels throughout his body, as well as holding additional magic from the elves. Alize on the other hand, had to have her magical vessels forcibly opened  by the elves.


    Magic was cast in several ways. apparently humans used runes and magic circles to do magic, while elves used incantations. Deineres knew a few human runes and taught them to the humans. after using magic to draw the symbols and the circle within the air, they both were able to fire off a simple fireball. However it took them 45 seconds to draw all the required signs, which made it somewhat impractical.


    All in all, it was a fairly peaceful journey, until one evening...

 Chapter 5- Depravity

    As the sun was setting and the moons were rising, The House of Delacroix made camp in  the midst of some old ruins.  Apparently some witch had lived there hundreds of years ago and  had infected the whole forest with her dark magic before an army of high and sylvan elves put her and her servants down. Most of the demons died, but several lesser monster groups such as the goblin and imp tribes escaped.


    Jason and alize began practicing  magic as usual, when suddenly Alize stopped.  After a few moments, she yelled ¡°A mid-size group of small creatures are coming!¡± Jason activated his snake eyes and confirmed it but there was something else. three human-like heat signatures were with the creatures.


    The elves were quick to react. Although not all of them were warriors before the village had been destroyed, they all had basic combat knowledge and quickly adapted to life in the wild. What emerged from the forest were not goblins, but small evil looking creatures which Jason now disdained the most. ¡°Imps¡± he said with a grimace.


    The humans with them weren¡¯t bound, more-like it seemed they were actually in charge. They eyed Jason¡¯s group with obvious evil intentions. ¡°Well now, look what we got here. Skinny dwarves and a couple strays?¡± One of the human¡¯s said. ¡°What do you think bro, do we take em back to Alexander?¡±  Another one said. ¡°Nahhhh he doesn¡¯t know we found anyone. We might as well eat em ourselves¡± the first one replied.


    Alize shouted at  them from their position in the middle of the ruins. ¡°How can you talk about eating people like that? where is your humanity? Do you really want to dance in that bastard god¡¯s palms? Do you really believe he¡¯s going to let any of us go?¡±


    Alize and Jason had both reached the conclusion that none of them were going home. That mad god probably never planned to send them back in the first place. He just wanted toys to play with. This was partly why they wanted to learn magic. If this world had some sort of spatial magic, they might be able to go back on their own.


    The Enemy looked confused, then replied ¡°Humanity? I don''t remember being something so weak as a human! Since when can a human become a dragon? since when could a human do this!?¡± The man shot fire out of his hand before continuing. ¡°Your desperation to cling to your humanity is why you¡¯re about to be eaten! Go! kill their pets first!¡±


    The command was issued towards the imps who rushed forward to attack Jason¡¯s group. Jason¡¯s group shot magic as the imps  came closer, taking out half of the imps as they had to jump over the pieces of wall to get to the center of the ruins where their targets were located.  then Jason and the elves formed a tight circle with ranged fighters in the center.


    The fight was going fine, with Deineres in the center healing everyone, when suddenly the humans joined the fight. However they weren''t humans anymore. There was a red dragon that was around  7 meters long, A green dragon around 5 meters long and¡­ a god?  The last person who had remained silent throughout this entire exchange had become a god, and was levitating over the battlefield with a shimmering aura.


    Jason had a feeling that he was the real threat, as every other god he had seen had no aura, or if they did, it was weak. Jason left the remaining imps to the elves and began shooting lightning out of Mjolnir- his bat. The lightning caught the dragons off guard, and they quickly took evasive maneuvers.


    The elves had finish dealing with the imps, and had started shooting arrows at the dragons. The arrows bounced off their scales, but it was enough to irritate them. The red dragon roared. ¡°Foolish creatures, I would have let you escape  if you had acted correctly!¡±  The red dragon  rushed towards them, and  even though most of them made it away, several elves were roasted by the fire the dragon let loose from its mouth.


    ¡°No!¡± Jason rushed towards the dragon, only to be hit by a blast of air. It had come from the god.  Jason was slammed into a near by wall with extreme force. luckily he partially transformed before he was hit and his scales partially took some of the impact or he would be dead. Still, his whole body hurt.


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    The god prepared an even more powerful blast, and jason couldn''t move to avoid it . Just as it was about to hit, a figure casting barrier magic appeared in front of him. It was Calex. The barrier broke, and with his small body, Calex protected Jason. He flew into the wall, most of his body broken. He delivered his last words to Jason with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn''t finish the last picture¡­¡± and he took his final breath, with the light leaving his body.


    ¡°Calex!¡±  Alize screamed as she kept the dragons busy. But Jason could barely hear it. Calex  was gone. He and Jason had become close, bonding over art and animation, swapping ideas on different stories from both worlds. Jason had never had anyone to talk to about those things before, except friends on the internet. But this was different.


    Before he had realized it, Calex had become his first and only best friend. And those bastards had taken him from Jason. Promises be damned, He was going to make them pay. He released a roar so powerful it reverberated throughout the forest. He ran towardsthe dragons, adopting his snake form before reaching them.


    ¡°Take care of the god, drain him.¡± Jason hissed at alize. She nodded with  an expression full of fury before running towards the god at super speed. Jason wrapped his body around the  red dragon, constricting it. the dragon was helpless, it couldn''t even move, let alone release flames. The other dragon soon came to aid it,  only to be caught in Jasons two arms. It wa stronger physically than the other dragon, and was about to break free, when Jason bit into it.


    Since absorbing his first dragon, Jason had gained more fangs, although they weren''t as big as his main ones, they did quite a bit of damage. The enemy writhed in pain. However mere pain was not the goal of Jason. Without letting go, he began to pump poison into the dragon. Within thirty seconds the dragon  was no longer moving, In another minute it was dead.


    The red dragon had also died some time ago of  oxygen deprivation and cardiac arrest. Jason began to tear his enemies apart and devour them. He saw  Alize approaching, blood staining the sides of her mouth.  After he was done eating, Jason assumed human form and sat on a pile of bricks.


    ¡°What did you get?¡± He asked flatly. She took a seat next to him before responding. ¡°God transformation, wind control. You?¡± Jason took a moment to think, then said ¡°Fire manipulation, enhanced body. You know were going to find whoevers responsible for this right?¡± Alize nodded with resolution.


    The elves soon came up to them. there were only half left of the sixteen who had started off from that cave, only a few weeks ago. They were all crying, especially Deineres. Jason looked at them, and said ¡°stop crying. Do you want to grieve or get even? Were going to find these bastards, and then were going to kill each and every one. Arent you tired of these things always taking from you? Your village, your houses, your families, and now your new  house. It ends now.¡±


    As he spoke rage began to replace the tears, and the elves began shaking in anger. That night, they all made a vow to kill all those who had done them wrong, no matter how long it takes. As they made that vow which was filled with hatred and rage, a change came over those sylvan elves.


    Their hair became ash white. Their skin took on a greyish color and their eyes began to glow a deep crimson. They had grown to be almost 6 feet in height. They had become dark elves. Deineres looked at herself, then whispered ¡°I feel¡­ powerful.¡± The next day,  the house of delacroix moved out, stronger than ever, with only one goal: the death of their enemies.


    If you listened hard enough, You could almost hear the Mad god  bursting with laughter. His toys were becoming quite fun, and it hadn¡¯t been a month.

 Chapter 6- Giggity

    The fallen house of Delacroix  made their way through the forest, despite the moons being high in the sky.  The reason being, they needed to make ground quickly. They didn¡¯t know how many people the enemy had, but they wanted to strike before they could recover from their recent loss.


    They stopped for rest in a spacious clearing at the base of a big hill. They then began eating in silence. Their reason  for stopping was that they were being followed. Alize, who had higher senses than the rest of them, had heard their pursuer an hour ago. She alerted Jason, and they quietly made their way to their current point.


    Everyone had their weapons at their feet, waiting for whatever it was to come out, but what came out surprised them all. It was the god that Alize had fought the previous night. Except¡­ he didn¡¯t seem quite right. ¡°Damnit alize, didn''t you drain him?¡± Jason said irritably. Lik hell he wanted the man who killed calex alive. Alize responded in a confused voice ¡°I¡­ did. Thats how I have wind control!¡±


    Alize certainly did have wind control, she used it to slice a boar in two, thus their current meal. As the man got closer,  Jason cursed and was about to fry the man with a fireball, when the man cried out for him to wait.  When the man stepped into the light, Jason understood why he didn''t seem right.


    He had red eyes, his skin was deathly pale, his hair had lost its luster, and two short fangs protruded down from his lips. He was a vampire. The man spoke up, and begged ¡°Please! please undo whatever this is!  I¡­ I¡¯m so thirsty! I drank so much water i ran out today, but i still thirst! When i woke up! thun sunlight nearly burnt me to death! I¡¯m sorry about your friend but that was business! I just want to be normal again, please!¡±


    Jason sneered at the man. How dare he ask them for help? Since when was attacking and eating people, business? Jason had killed in self defense, but these people were monsters.  Ha but then again, aren''t  we all monsters now?  he thought.


    ¡°There¡¯s no reversing this. Just die if you don¡¯t like it.¡± Alize said as she began gathering wind in her palm. Just when she was about to kill the man, Jason spoke. ¡°Wait. If a person stabs your loved one, you don¡¯t destroy the knife. You use it against him. You there! I¡¯ll give you a choice. You will Serve us, or you will die. Choose.¡±


    ¡°Service! I choose the service option!¡± The man shouted quickly.  Jason turned towards deineres. ¡°Can you, i don''t know¡­ curse him? Make him bound to serve  Alize? Alize don¡¯t look at me like that, You turned him, he¡¯s yours. So, Deineres, can you?¡±


    Deineres answered with  a sadistic smirk. ¡°Yes I can. It seems curses are a perk of this new form. But it won''t feel nice.¡± Jason merely nodded. He didn''t really care how the vampire felt. He just needed allegiance. That was it.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.Deineres took blood from both the man and Alize, and began chanting. Dark energy began to swirl around the three of them. It took around 10 minutes, after that, the dark energy formed a collar around the mans neck attached by a chain to Alize¡¯s hand. then it disappeared.


    ¡°Well, thats it. Basically, This man and all his offspring must serve Alize. If anyone attempts to break this magic, the man dies.¡± Deineres said, taking a seat. It seemed that  the magic had taken a toll on her. Jason spoke to Alize next. ¡°Now, could you order him to  return to where he came from and gather intel? Oh, and order him not to betray us.¡± Alize did as she was instructed and the man immediately walked off.


    ¡°You know you should probably take him hunting. He won''t be any use if he dies. Hell he doesn''t even know what he¡¯s thirsty for! Teach him how to get blood for himself from goblins.¡± Jason told Alize. Alize pouted before catching up to the man. Goblin blood was rather gross, but still, it satisfied the thirst.


    Jason climbed to the top of the hill, then pitched his tent. He preferred to be higher up, that way he could scan for enemies more effectively during his turn to watch.  He took watch right away. After two hours, he signalled an el on the ground, indicating his watch was over, then retired to his tent, falling asleep promptly.


    He was awoken by sudden weight on his midsection He opened his eyes to see Deineres on top of him. ¡°Deineres wha-¡± Before Jason could finish, she kissed him.  They stayed that way for a while before Deineres broke the contact to whisper in his ear. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting you for a while now, but since I took this form its been unbearable.What are you gonna do to fix it?¡±


    It was as if there was magic in her words.  Jason was overtaken by his own lust, and with a dragon-like growl, he flipped  Deineres over and wrapped her legs around him.  Even as he took her virginity, she moaned in pleasure.  Though her nails scratched his shoulders, jason continued to give Deineres the pleasure she had awoken this side of him for, until they both climaxed under the moons of the night.


    On a side note, the elves  at the base of the hill, due to their heightened sense of hearing, heard everything. No one got any sleep that night, as the two at the top of the hill wouldn''t  stop even after several rounds. For reasons unbeknownst to them, they would receive many evil glares that morning.

 Chapter 7- A new hope? Probly not.

    The house of Delacroix sat around a fire, preparing their breakfast, and making plans as to how to proceed. There was a slightly¡­. awkward atmosphere in the camp that morning.  Deineres was clinging to Jason happily as she had a silent staring match with Alize, who was smiling, yet didn¡¯t seem happy. Not happy at all.


    ¡°W-w-well, let¡¯s make a plan here.¡± Jason said, trying to ease the tension. ¡°Originally, We were planning to attack the enemy as soon as possible to catch them unaware, but it doesn¡¯t seem like that will work given our new information¡­¡±


    According to the vampire that alize created, there were a couple hundred people on the enemies¡¯ side, and they had gained control of the imps in the area, and the goblins would be next, followed by the orcs, and then they would leave the forest. Jason was no general, but he didn''t think a group of ten people(eleven if you counted the vampire they sent back as a spy) could stand against an army, especially one full of demented super people..


    The one i¡¯m most worried about, however, is their leader, Alexander. i remember him from the beginning, when everyone was showing off. Alexander the Bull, they called him. The thing is¡­ he must be the strongest to keep control of those murderers, but bulls are herbivores, so how did he eat people? Unless¡­ oh god, he ate them in his human form!  Jason thought to himself, as an expression of disgust flashed across his face.


    ¡°What''s the matter?¡± Alize asked, confused. Jason shook his head, ¡°Nothing.¡± he said, before continuing. ¡°So anyway, we need allies. Anyone know how to find some? Like any at all? We have to crush them before they''re too big, otherwise we will never have vengeance, and most likely they¡¯ll try to take over the world or something to appease that fucking imp.¡±


    Alize rose her hand and spoke. ¡°Well Lee, my vampire slave thingie, has been talking to me through our connection as master and slave, and he said when he made it back, he was able to make up a story about how he became a vampire, and they let him back in. He said that a few of the weaker people thought it was cool, and asked to be turned too, I mean, who wants to be a powerless god, or a cat sized dragon forever? I feel 14 new connections, who will all have no choice but to attack our enemies when I give the order.¡±


    ¡° Ok, that¡¯s a start.¡± said Jason. ¡°Oh, Lee just said they finished taking over the large goblin tribes, and now have around 2000 goblins and imps on their side, as well as around 300 of us.¡± Alize interrupted. By us, Alize meant super-humans.


    Jason facepalmed in frustration ¡°Just what the hell... we would need a fucking army to take out that many! Let alone Alexander, who i¡¯m pretty sure without even seeing him, is as strong as a hundred men in his fully transformed state. I mean look at us, we only ate a few people and we¡¯re strong enough to kill whole groups of goblins. He probably has eaten a dozen, and now he has an army!¡±


    Silence pervaded the camp. Then Deineres spoke, saying the one thing no one wanted to say, but knew was true: ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work¡±.  Everyone sat there, oozing frustration. The plan from the beginning was to rush the enemy leader at their base. sure there may be a few dozen of his fellow delusional cannibals there, but they wouldn¡¯t be able to  react quickly to  10 people using their most powerful abilities and magic, aimed at one person. After that, the plan had been to split up and escape in the chaos, and meet back up at the western mountain range.


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    They knew this plan was no longer going to work, but they had thought that with some tweaking, they could still attain vengeance.  Now it was painfully obvious that they would not, could not avenge Calex and the others, just like they couldn¡¯t protect them when the time had come.


    Jason was especially upset.  Everytime, EVERYTIME! Everytime something good happens to me, something bad happens that just ruins everything!!! I gain control of my powers, I¡¯m forced to kill and eat someone. I make a friend here, his group refuses to accept me. I gain a family, and my first BEST friend!!! half of them, including that best friend are burnt to cinders by dragonfire!!!!!!! and now, this. we gain more power, only to learn the enemy is beyond our reach....  While thinking, Jason¡¯s face went from frustrated, to enraged, to even more enraged, to just plain old depressed.


    The camp slowly drifted apart. Some elves took their food, and ate elsewhere, some began letting their anger out on the local wildlife, and others just went back in their tents. There just was nothing left to discuss.


    The whole day was spent doing pretty much nothing but moping, and the following day, the house of Delacroix began heading west again. Suddenly, Everyone stopped moving, they detected a few dozen presences heading towards them. Human and yet not human, just like¡­ Jason and Alize. Everyone prepared their weapons and magic quietly. If they were going out, it would be only after taking as many enemies as possible with them.


    A figure emerged from the forest, and everyone prepared to attack, before Jason recognized the person and told everyone to wait. ¡°Wow, its just like the first night, only our positions are kinda reversed bro.¡± Jason gave a wry smile to the man who had spoken. Looking just as leaderly as ever, there stood Ricardo Rodriguez.


    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


    (Author''s note) Hey guys, the chapter''s short, but it''s only the introduction to the newest story arc! from here on out, Sides will be taken, and things will really start rolling. More of the world and its contents will be revealed,  and what happened to all the other  Earthlings  after the first night. (The people who left first are particularly interesting.) I''ll update more often now as well, so stay tuned!.


    Sincerly,


    Mahatma

 Chapter 8- Direction for the dozens.

    ¡°Ricky Rodriguez.¡± Jason walked up to the man with a smile. He went to shake his hand, but Ricky pulled him into a bear hug. ¡°It¡¯s been too long man,¡± Ricky began ¡°It¡¯s been awhile since I met a fellow Earth man that wasn¡¯t trying to eat us.¡±  Jason  nodded understandingly, then asked about what had happened so far.


    ¡° You don¡¯t know how bad¡­. or rather I suppose you know best how bad it is. It¡¯s been hell bro. The first week was the worst, we were attacked again and again. We never actually killed our enemies though even spared goblins when we could. God, I didn''t realize how stupid we were being. Anyway by the time the first week ended, 2 of our original party were dead, and we all had pretty bad wounds.¡±


    ¡°After that,the attacks just stopped. We thought we were safe. Over the next week, we tried to gather  as many non-hostile people as we could. Some were humans from this world, slaves to goblins that we freed. Most were stragglers that escaped base camp when that shit went down on Bloody Sunday. Thats what we call the first night. Then they came en masse. not just one or two people, or a dozen goblins.It was like 20 people and a small army of goblins. what¡¯s more, they were working together! It was a massacre. Most of the people were the ones we had left alive, so they knew our abilities¡­¡±


    Ricardo could speak no further as memories flooded his mind.  The blood, the carnage, they were too much. As Jason put a hand of comfort on his shoulder, Ricardo began speaking once more. ¡° In the end, there were only a handful of us left. As we prepared for death, Sabrina¡­ she saved us. She sacrificed her life and became a pillar of blue flame  and burned our enemies to  ashes¡­ and then that beautiful flame burnt out. I gathered what was left of us, and began searching for allies once more. Then, weeks later, I remembered you, and here we are.¡±


    By now, all of Ricardo¡¯s allies had come forth and were clearly visible among the trees. Most of them were garbed in worn clothing from this world, but some wore apparel from Earth.  Ricardo  went and stood among them, and asked the question Jason had been anticipating for awhile now. ¡° Jason, I¡¯m not going to lie to you. We intend to seek vengeance.I know it¡¯s got nothing to do with you and your group, but will you join us, friend?¡±


    Jason shook his head with a slight smile.  ¡° Ricky, it has more to do with me than you think. I have more reason to hate Alexander and his group than you know, but its impossible for us now. he has thousands at his side, not to mention hundreds of us.¡± After Jason said this, Ricardo paused, then with a confused look, he asked ¡°Alexander? Wait, the Bull? He¡¯s a part of this? It doesn''t matter,  we can still take them!¡± Jason sighed and facepalmed.


    ¡°No man, we can''t. Firstly, you obviously aren''t too well informed.  Alexander isn¡¯t a part of them, he¡¯s in charge. And did you not just hear me say he has hundreds of us? the goblins, orcs,  and imps could be dealt with, with careful planning. but hundred of ability users strengthened by eating others? No, it¡¯s impossible for just us. Secondly, look at yourselves. Why aren''t you wearing armor? Why aren''t you carrying weapons? Have you just been using raw abilities to defend yourselves? That¡¯s terribly inefficient, you would run out of energy in ten minutes of fighting, easy. You aren¡¯t ready for any form of warfare, I-¡±


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    ¡°WE WILL FIGHT! I WILL PROTECT THEM!!!¡± Ricardo bellowed in a voice that was  Inhumanly deep. Thin bristles of hair began to sprout from his growing body¡­ but then he was back in control, and was the same Ricky from two minutes ago. He looked and saw that Everyone had weapons drawn, and facepalmed ¡°Ugh... I¡¯m sorry, sometimes it just comes out.  It needs to dominate and protect, I-¡±


    ¡°I understand. I go through it too sometimes.¡± Jason interrupted. Many of the people on both sides look confused, but the ones who actually had affinity with their transformations understood.  Sometimes the urge was too strong, Jason himself had fallen prey to it. It was why  his group never went hungry.  His need to hunt drove him to kill anything that was big and delicious.


    But that was just the snake, whom Jason had pretty much under control, and he could resist its impulses for the most part. The urge he had to fight was that of the dragon. unlike the snake, the dragon was a dominating animal, and the urges were stronger, despite a lower  affinity. All of Jason¡¯s group bore packs now,  full of valuables that Jason couldn''t just let go. His hoard was ever-growing, and he didn''t know it yet, but he was quite rich.


    ¡°Listen, I know you want vengeance, so do I. But if we go after them now, all that happens is we put a dent in their army, at the expense of losing everything. I don¡¯t want to lose anymore, do you?¡± Jason told Ricardo. Ricardo could only nod. As much as he wanted to fight it, It was the truth, and he knew it.


    Ricardo looked  back at Jason, sighed, then asked ¡° So what¡¯s your plan?¡± Jason looked back at his group for confirmation that it was ok to share, then began to speak ¡°We plan to get out of this forest, for one. past those mountains over there, there is a human frontier city. They do business with the high elves, but rarely send people in themselves, for obvious reasons.We plan to go there, get information, warn  the people about the threat although Alexander is moving in the opposite direction,buy a small boat, and then leave.  We¡¯re headed towards somewhere we can earn a lot of money, then to a magical academy. Magic is probably the way back to our world, because let¡¯s face it, that imp aint letting us go back.¡±


    Ricardo paused, thought for a moment, then said ¡°Ok, We¡¯re in.¡± Jason looked at him confusedly, then proceeded to say ¡°No, nonononono. This is OUR plan. it wasn''t exactly an invitation bro. How could we feed all these people in a city? I don''t have the money to-¡± ¡°Come onnnn, don''t sweat the small stuff, so when do we leave?¡± Ricky interrupted, swinging a muscular arm over Jason¡¯s shoulders. Jason just sighed. His life just became a little more complicated.

 Chapter 9- AdventureTime

    (Author''s note) Next Chapter will be longer I promise.


    Do tell me what you think will happen next, most of you will be wrong [th_0v.gif]


    But tell me anyway.


    ________________________________________________________________________________


    The sun was still hidden behind the horizon when  Jason and co reached the city beyond the mountain: Gyara.  It was a fairly large sized port city, with two sets of walls, technically three if you include the pathetic palisade protecting the outer  fields. Despite the dawn being at least two hours away, the city bustled with activity.


    Jason and the others all walked towards the main exterior gate. They were met by two dozen armed guards. ¡°Halt! State your intentions!!¡± The man who was obviously guard captain barked orders at the group.  Jason cursed himself silently. after months of wandering the forest, he had gotten so excited when he finally saw civilization that he forgot that almost 100 people armed with weapons approaching a city might look like an attack.


    He quickly stepped forward, but before he could speak, someone behind the captain spoke up, ¡°Cap¡¯n I think these are some of those Yearth men.¡± The Captain  paused for a moment. ¡°You mean Earth men?¡± ¡°Thems the ones cap¡¯n¡±


    Jason decided this was a good time to interject. ¡°Yes sir, we are indeed from earth, but may I ask how you know of us?¡± The guard Captain looked at him, then said ¡°All people of Earth are advised to join the newly created Adventurers¡¯ Guild. It was founded by one of your own, the Celestial Dragon: Tensei Senryuu. At least I think thats how you say it.¡±


    Jason was dumbfounded. For the first time in his life, there was someone who possibly had a worse case of chuuninbyou than him. There was no way that was a real name, and who calls themselves Celestial Dragon???


    Jason and his group were escorted across the town. like many old cities, it was built with the poorer districts towards the outside, richer ones in the center. This was to ensure that in times of war, if the army was overwhelmed, the noble families will have time to escape.


    Jason began making conversation with the guard captain. ¡°So this Tensei, he came here?¡± The guard captain shook his head as he kept walking. ¡° He didn''t land. However, I saw him that day 2 months ago as he flew over the city. ¡®A dragon of old!¡¯ I thought, as I grabbed my sword in both fear and amazement. I was slightly disappointed when I learned he was only a man,but look at all he has done in just two months!¡±


    ¡°All he has done?¡± Jason asked tentatively. Jason now knew who this Tensei was. The first decently sized dragon, and the first to leave the huge clearing where they had all come from. Now he needed more information.


    ¡°Ahh thats right, you wouldn¡¯t know.¡± The guard captain said. ¡°When he first came here, he landed  right outside the capital¡¯s gates. The full guard had prepared to meet him in battle, because legends said that dragons could terrorize whole cities. However, he simply greeted them with a smile and told them his intentions: to start the Adventurer¡¯s guild and have fun.¡±


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    ¡°Of course, a few magicians thought this was a trick, and attacked him anyway.


    Or rather, that''s the claim, they probably just wanted to be known as dragonslayers. In any case, they prepared to fire magic at the Celestial Dragon, but he simply clapped his hands together and the magical formations disappeared. He didn''t unweave them using a counterspell, or break them down using antimagia. they were just gone.¡±


    ¡°He didn''t attack, and yet the entire capital city guard stood there like rabbits. Anyway, after that, he sat down and refused to move until he was assured that his adventurers guild would be a recognized organization in the kingdom. The guard demanded he follow them for questioning, and he refused. After several minutes, requests from various nobles arrived, bidding him to come and meet them. Still he refused to move.¡±


    ¡°A certain captain attempted to approach him with the intention of dragging him to the jail for interrogation. Tensei, still without moving, turned into a dragon. The man changed his mind. Finally, the next day, a scroll was sent down from the capital palace informing the Celestial Dragon that his request would be granted on the condition that he met with the king.¡±


    Jason was listening attentively. The information that he just received was incredibly valuable. It seemed that Tensei possessed some sort of cancellation ability. Was it sound oriented, or did he just clap his hands for effect? No small detail could be overlooked with abilities. Even Jason¡¯s allies couldn¡¯t really understand his animation ability. Jason also knew this man was quite clever in tricking the guards. It wasn¡¯t that he refused to move, the recoil from using that ability probably took too much out of him, the guard could have probably taken him then and there.


    The guard captain, not pay attention to Jason¡¯s silence, simply went on talking ¡°Well, no one really knows what he and the king discussed, but after that, across every island and city under the king''s control  had a guild building. It took around a month to recruit suitably, while having guards like me looking out for strangely dressed Earthmen,  but after around 100 of your kind joined up,  the adventurer¡¯s guild took off. ¡°


    ¡°Indeed, many of the unions such as the mage¡¯s union,  hunter¡¯s union, and warrior¡¯s union are seeing their youths- and their contracts- stolen away by the adventurers. Won''t be long till the adventurers monopolize everything, save for the merchants and various crafters, they¡¯ve already began expanding out of the country! Ah, there is the temporary guild building now!¡±


    <hr />


    Hahahahhahahahah Cliffhanger

 Chapter 10- A productive day.

    The temporary guild building looked, well¡­ rickety. By this time, the sun had risen some, and one could clearly see the building. It was a rundown wooden tavern with two stories and paint so chipped you could see more  brown wood than white paint. A sign with the words ¡®Adventurer¡¯s Guild¡¯ were written in blue on a sign posted in front of the building.


    By the time they had arrived at the building, their group was noticeably smaller. Although many of the people were from Earth, the majority were kidnapped humans and elves, and a lot of them separated from the group upon making it to the city, intent on finally coming home. Of course there were a few who had no home to return to, which included all the elves within Ricky¡¯s group, which joined Jason¡¯s house. At any rate, from nearly 100, the number was reduced to around 50.


    The guard captain and his men bid Jason and the others goodbye and returned to their duties.Jason was about to enter the building when he noticed something.  A newspaper stand. He approached the  stand, the term stand being used loosely.  It was really just five columns of newspapers stacked up.


    A young man with a business-like demeanor saw his approach and said ¡°Good morning sir, would you care for a paper? Only 25 copper!¡± Jason walked past him and grabbed a paper.  He had hoped his eyes had deceived him, but of course he had no such  luck. There, on the cover of the newspaper was what looked like a giant demonic minotaur shooting lightning from one hand, ice from another, while breathing fire.


    The article was titled ¡®New Demon King? Monster known as Alexandrius  terrorizes Reina kingdom!¡¯. Jason just sighed. He knew Alexander had powerful, but it was something else actually seeing it. Wait why was he calling himself Alexandrius? It seemed like everyone that mattered was changing their names now¡­. maybe he should change his too.


    Shaking such thoughts from his mind, he handed the newspaper off to Ricky on his right. ¡°That¡¯s what you wanted to fight.¡± He said. He heard Ricky mutter ¡°Bet I could still take him¡­¡± but chose to ignore it.  He took three more papers and handed them around  to the group. The young man who worked the stand spoke out. ¡°Hey you have to pay for those! That''s one silver!¡±


    Jason turned to the man and asked ¡°Do you own these?¡± The man smiled with pride. ¡°That''s right, I¡¯m Allenius Regnus, dispatched by the Information Union to be the head of the Gyara branch and the surrounding areas!¡± Jason rose an eyebrow. ¡°And yet you''re selling the paper¡¯s yourself.¡± Allenius¡¯ face reddened as he embarrassedly stuttered ¡°W-w-well.. I don''t really have that many employees, just one working the library, so¡­¡±


    Jason smiled ¡°Mr. Regnus, I¡¯m going to help you sell your papers.¡± Allenius smiled ¡°Well, pay for one day is one silver, so today would be used to pay for the paper¡¯s you took. Here, I¡¯ll show you how to sell.¡± Jason shook his head with a smirk. ¡°Not like that.¡±  Ignoring Allenius¡¯ confused face, jason approached the piles of papers. It was convenient that they were all touching. He concentrated, then animated all five stacks of papers.  The illustrations seemed to come to life,  The image of Alexander, no, Alexandrius rampaging became a moving scene of carnage.


    Allenius just stared with a surprised look on his face.  Jason chuckled to himself, slightly tired. He had wanted to see how much that would take out of him, and it actually wasn''t much. He was a little winded, but he would be fine in like a minute. Leaving the stunned Allenius, Jason and the rest of his group entered the guild building.


    It was fairly spacious inside with room for all of the people who had just entered. the furniture was all simple wood, but it was clean. On the far side of the room was a bar, with a few people stocking it with drinks. A girl saw them, and ran over. One might say she was more cute than beautiful, a little on the short side with shoulder length black hair and¡­ rabbit ears? Jason almost thought it was a beastman of this world till he noticed her skirt and shoes. She was definitely from Earth. From what little Jason had seen, women in this world were too modest for such short skirts, and he had yet to see heels being worn here either.


    ¡°Hiya! Are you all new recruits?¡± She asked with a bright smile ¡°I¡¯m Thea, Vice leader of the Gyara region branch! Let¡¯s sign you guys up!¡±  Jason was being dragged towards the before Thea finished talking ¡°Whoa! Not so fast there, we aren¡¯t joining yet! We still have some questions as to what it  is you do here!¡± Jason said. The girl looked puzzled, then smiled again.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what an adventurer¡¯s guild is? You weren''t one  for video games back on earth were you? Anyway, we basically take on quest from the general populace or the kingdom, and get rewards for it. We also go treasure hunting! Basically, our mission is to have fun and help people!¡± Thea finished with a thumbs-up and another one of her gleaming smiles.


    Jason sighed before speaking, ¡°Thank you, we¡¯ll be going now.¡± All Thea could reply was a confused ¡°eh?¡± When Jason turned around, he saw confused looks on many of the faces behind him. Only a few seemed to understand, Ricky was chief among them.   His unamused expression said it all. these people thought this was a game.


    Quests?  Adventuring? This was real life! Jason understood the need for establishing an organization, but these people were acting like children! What they were doing wasn''t necessarily wrong, but such a group would not suit the purposes of Jason and those with him. They needed to grow stronger, gain knowledge, not act like protagonists of some generic manga.


    Jason had an idea brewing in his mind about what to do next and was about to exit when Thea landed in front of him. Jason was astonished by her jumping power, then realized what those rabbit ears signified: she was already partially transformed, and her transformation was rabbit. ¡°You can''t leave!¡± She said, desperation filling her voice. ¡°This is all we have! There is no other place for those like us! Lord Senryuu has made a safe place for us, why can¡¯t you accept that? Is it because of the guild building? It¡¯s only temporary! Until the fucking lord of this city finally grants us full rights, that bastard. Look, just give us-¡± ¡°Enough Thea¡±   A man back at the bar spoke up.


    He was quite tall and muscular, and  wore the remnants of a suit, which at this point was a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a tie. He had sharp eyes and a military style haircut. He spoke again ¡°If they wish to leave, it¡¯s their right to. This isn''t a draft.¡± Thea looked as if she had been hurt, before saying ¡°Yes branch leader Primat.¡± She walked off to the side.


    Jason and his group left without another word. Thea began pacing up and down the floor. Where had she gone wrong? Was she not nice enough? Not cute enough?  It wasn¡¯t like they were bad guys, not like the ones Lord Senryuu had saved her from only a month ago. What was it? It must have been the guild building, it must have! The lord of this shithole had been snubbing them since they came here! it was all his fault! he must pay. SHE would make him pay. A wild light danced in Thea¡¯s eyes.


    Jason  and the group all were relieved when they finally got out of there. They had all detected the madness in that woman¡¯s eyes. No words needed to be said, although they left for a different reason, they all were glad they didn''t join this adventurer¡¯s guild. They decided to explore the city for a while, and broke off into groups. Jason, Deineres, Alize, Ricky, and the seven other elves were all in one group. Then Jason remembered something.


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    He asked a random passerby where he could sell treasure, and he pointed out a merchant¡¯s union building on the docks. He entered the building and could feel many eyes appraising him. The main room was loud with with sweet talk and curses. Many merchants were buying and selling with customers in areas that were reminiscent of cubicles. This was the den of merchants. Jason and co approached what looked to be the front desk. There was a young lady with glasses  sending off pieces of paper which seemed to be enchanted as they flew off her desk and towards various offices, sometimes even outside.


    ¡°Excuse me miss, I have valuables to sell, could  I possibly meet with one of your best appraisers?¡± Jason said. He had experience with this type. Without even looking up, the young lady said ¡°You don''t have an appointment. I know you don''t have an appointment since appointments are scheduled through me. Our senior appraisers require appointments to be set and do not necessarily reply to requests of-¡± she glanced briefly at Jason and his group. ¡°unknowns.¡±


    While the others looked quite offended, Jason merely smiled. Yes, he certainly had experience with this type. He pulled several jewels that he kept in his pockets at all times, and laid them in front of the clerk. ¡°These are my appointment,¡± He said. He had the satisfaction of seeing the clerk¡¯s eyes widen.  She quickly wrote one of  her magical letters and it flew into one of the offices. Within a minute a small man walked out of the office. he had curly graying hair, pointed ears, and somewhat large feet. Jason realized he was a hobbit.


    ¡°Come with me young masters, let us see what you have for us!¡± the hobbit said with a smile. Jason scooped all but one gem off the clerk¡¯s desk, saying ¡°That¡¯s for you¡± with a smile. It pained him so much to give such a gem away for free, but he knew that it was the best move. Being on good terms with someone in the merchant¡¯s guild was smart.


    He cursed the dragon within him for making him so obsessed with treasure. He had always liked money, but never intentionally made a lot more than he needed. But now he was so hungry for gold and precious stones, he might¡¯ve gone back to the adventurer¡¯s guild just for the treasure hunting the crazy chick mentioned.


    They entered the hobbit¡¯s private office. It was quite nice, with a main desk and four chairs, one of which was behind the desk. It also had two couches with a coffee table, and a beautiful painting of rolling waves and sandy beaches which covered an entire wall.


    They all took seats, with Jason, Alize, and Ricky all being at the desk with the hobbit, and the rest being on the couches. ¡°To business then.¡± The hobbit said. Jason smiled then called the elves over. they were slightly annoyed at having sat down only to stand up again, but soon that wouldn''t even matter anymore. The heavy packs they had been carrying around were about to become much lighter.


    ¡°Collette please empty your bag out onto the desk.¡± Jason said.  The elf known as Collette did as she was asked. A small pile of golden objects and gemstones were formed on the desk.  The hobbits eyes began to sparkle with greed. ¡°Yes, yes, this is quite nice, I¡¯ll give you 3000 gold for it.¡± Collette interjected immediately. ¡°He¡¯s cheating you.¡± Jason rose an eyebrow and looked at the man.  ¡°Oh??¡±  Jason had the feeling he was being cheated, but he wasn¡¯t sure as he did not understand the money here.


    The hobbit looked at Collette with irritation. ¡°5000 gold then.¡± jason activated his snake eyes before looking directly at the hobbit. ¡°Stop playing games with me.¡± Jason wasn¡¯t used to using intimidation tactics, but he hoped this would work. It did. ¡°1 platinum!! that''s wholesale!¡± the hobbit said, fear in his voice. Jason glanced at collett who gave a small nod. ¡°Alright then, the rest of you, it''s your turns.¡± Jason said.


    15 minutes later,  Jason had opened up an account with the merchant¡¯s bank with 10 platinum and some change in it. It seemed in this world the money was broken down as follows 100 copper= 1 silver, 100 silver= 1 gold, 10,000 gold= 1 platinum. There was also another unit at 10,000 platinum called a crown. These were rarely seen, because the meaning behind the name was that if you were that rich, you could afford to buy a country. Or so it was said.


    Jason walked out of the merchants guild slightly unhappy, he deeply missed his dear treasures already. Luckily he had kept the gems in his pocket.  He had also received an experimental card. It was supposedly linked with his bank account, so that when he needed money, he could reach into the card and withdraw some directly from the bank.


    The group was walking towards an Inn where they had agreed to meet the others, when they heard a big commotion start up.  Heading towards it, Jason noticed a shadow  fleeing the area via rooftop . Activating his snake eyes, he  looked at the figure and saw something quite interesting. Rabbit ears.


    When he got to the plaza that all the noise was coming from, he saw a big crowd. After maneuvering through it,  he saw a dead body  with a weeping woman over it. The guards were keeping the crowd back.  Jason noticed the guard captain from before and asked  ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°The lord has been assassinated.¡± The guard captain answered back in a cold voice.


    Jason recalled some of what the crazy rabbit had said at the guild building, and began to piece things together. They had gotten tired of the lord¡¯s noncooperation so they killed him. Oldest trick in the book. And the adventurers guild was the talk of the country right now, everyone liked them, no one would suspect them for it. jason chuckled to himself. Guess they weren''t all fun and games after all.


    ¡°This is an opportunity¡± Alize suddenly whispered in his ear. He looked at her confusedly, until he finally understood her meaning. She was far more crafty than what he had thought. He turned to the guard captain and asked ¡°How long has  he been dead?¡± ¡°not 3 minutes? why?¡± the guard captain responded. ¡°I may be able to help¡± Said Jason.


    The guard captain looked skeptical. ¡°I know you Earth people are capable of great things, but the lord is dead, there is no cure for that.¡± Jason decided to be a bit more forceful. ¡°Listen to me, every second that I don''t do this, the chances of it working drop a little bit. soon, there will be no hope for the lord, and it will be your fault, can you live with that?¡± The guard captain hesitated, then led him to the body. The crowd began murmuring, they didn''t understand what was going on.


    ¡°Deineres, heal him quickly!¡± Jason said, and the gouge marks on the man''s chest disappeared. ¡°That won¡¯t work, he¡¯s dead! Dead!¡± said the woman who had been crying over his body. Jason ignored her and placed a hand on the man¡¯s head.  ¡°Animate.¡± he said. He instantly felt the strength leave his body, even more than the time he reanimated Alize. He fell over, and as he lost consciousness, he saw his friends running towards him saying words he could no longer hear. But as his head began to relax, and his eyes were almost closed, he saw the lord begin to stir.

 chapter 10.5 Other Beginnings

    (Author''s Note): Hey guys,  these are the side stories of several of the characters who will be introduced later on. These aren''t all of them, but are some of the most important ones. New chapter is coming soon, I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised at what Jason plans to do.


    The Pirate


    _______________________________________________________


    When the mad god Vira Zin summoned me, I was kinda confused, but at the same time, I was happy. I mean, this means I can reach heights I never could on Earth. Back there I was a simple pirate in an age where pirates were no longer the legendary figures they used to be.


    Me and my boys operated out of Venezuela, taking down small cargo ships or private rich yachts. Mostly the rich Yachts. Damn, it was fun to see those rich assholes¡¯ faces when we  threw them overboard. But it never did amount to much, we had to keep our heads down, and be careful who we robbed. Piss off the wrong cartel, or hold hostage the wrong senator, you''re  dead. Get too big and become a threat, you''re dead. Stay too small and you look weak. Dead dead dead.


    But here I could be different. Here I  WOULD be different. I had always wished to take down the bigger ships, the huge american cargo ships, the European Cruise Liners. The bigger the ship, the more I wished to see it either added to my own fleet, or sunk to the deep. And now I would. For my transformation, I chose the thing all seafarers, navy or pirate, fear: The Kraken. Then I chose air control. I don''t understand this whole super powers thing, I never had time for tv shows or storybooks, but if I can make sailing easier with this power, it should be useful. I¡¯ll make a tailwind for my allies, but storms for my enemies!


    I have what I came for, it''s time for me to leave. I never was much of a talker.  As I begin heading south, already outside the main area of the camp, some guy keeps asking me about my ability. I saw him doing the same to others. He probably is choosing which to eat, and he isn''t being very secretive about it. True killers move in silence, this clown is no threat to me, I ignore him. This seems to make him mad. He tries to attack me. Foolish. A quick combination from me and the man was down on the floor. He rolled around, holding his bleeding nose.


    He was truly furious then. He turned into¡­ A demon?! Sudden fear rose up from me. I had been brought up Catholic, so of course I had been taught about the evils and powers of demons. But he didn''t look like any of the old illustrations the sisters used to how us of famous ones, he looked far more deadly. This fear is¡­ unnatural.  I can barely think straight, but I put together a hasty plan.


    I was preparing for him to attack again, when he did, this time I knocked him back while imagining wind attacking with me, the result is that, rather than wind coming from my fist, it was sucked in from behind my punch. rather than an air cannon, I suppose this would be a wind tunnel.  This of course was not enough to take out a demon, but as the man attempted to rise, a hoof promptly came down on his throat. Then again and again until the man¡¯s head had been separated from the body.


    The one who had stepped in was the man they were calling ¡®The bull¡¯. He currently had a man¡¯s torso, but  bull legs. The sight was quite horrendous. He looked up at me and asked ¡° You want to split him 50/50?¡±  I was going to say no, but then, as though a great beast had stirred within me, I had a change of mind. ¡°With pleasure¡± I said. We began to feast on his flesh. It was disgusting. but then something happened. It began to taste good. before I realized, I had turned into a kraken, and had completely sucked my portion up. I also realized I had gained something¡­ pheromone control?  what are pheromones? Is this what caused the fear? I knew I shouldn''t have dropped out of school.


    The man had been struggling to eat his portion, when suddenly he too took on his transformed state. It was different than I recall. rather than a bull, he now looked like a minotaur, i think. He must have received the demonic transformation. Why didn''t I? must be because we split the body. He proceeded to scoop up the remains and swallow them in one gulp. He turned to me, and I realized we were around the same height transformed, 10 meters. This of course  was not counting my tentacles amongst the trees. I reassumed my human form.


    This was not really smart around a known cannibal, but it had been growing hard to breath air in that form. Thankfully, he did the same. He held out his hand, and said ¡°We should be friends, I¡¯m Alexander.¡± this¡­ was a lot more friendly than i thought it should be. ¡°Olivar de Corteza, The Stormbringer¡±. He chuckled as he shook my hand. I began walking the way I started as he returned to the other people in that clearing. I know not why, but I have a feeling that we will meet again, and when we do, he will have caused far more storms than I. I pick up the pace. It¡¯s time I find a ship.


    The Hero


    __________________________________________________________________


    Senji Kanada. Or Kanada Senji, this looks like it may be a western style world. That had been my name. The old me. The lesser hero. When I woke in this world, I knew it was different, that I would be different. I wouldn¡¯t be just another unknown brat from Hokkaido here. I was going  to be a true hero, just like the ones in manga!


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    When the time came to choose our abilities I chose Dragon for my transformation, I mean if you''re a hero after all, it has to be dragon right? For my other ability, I chose nullify.  A ero should be able to stop his enemies without killing them!!


    After a while, people start trying out their transformations. They were¡­ pitiful to say the least. I began to be afraid, but I transformed anyway. I hear sounds of amazement. I wasn''t  like the others, I was a true dragon. This can only be a sign, a sign that I was chosen! My scale shone a fierce white as I took off from the ground.


    I get used to flying, as more and more take the air with me. there are kinds of other dragons and birds of prey, of all sizes. I¡¯m no longer the biggest, but that¡¯s alright, justice always prevails in a fight.  But I have no reason to fight anyone. While everyone is excited, I fly off. its time i get started. My new life as a hero is going to unfold, and the first step is becoming an adventurer!


    I¡¯m still flying when night hits. Or rather its more like gliding, I don''t really know how to explain but it''s not hard at all. All of a sudden I hear a roar behind me. It was another dragon, one from the clearing.  He was unique in that he had chrome scales. I almost wish I had thought of that. Why is he following me¡­ wait. I think he¡¯s about to attack me! I dive as a beam of light shoots past me.  I circle around below him. He may be bigger than me, but I¡¯m the better flyer. I dodge several off his beams until a lucky one hits my wing.


    IT-HURTS-IT-HURTS-IT-HURTS-IT-HURTS! Theres a whole in my left wing! I crash land into the side of a hill that was luckily made of soft soil. The chrome dragon in closing in for the kill with high speed. Ah, I see.  He wants to eat me. Me. A HERO OF FUCKING JUSTICE!?!?! ¡°Nullify!¡± I roar. The dragon suddenly becomes a man. I see his surprised face as he crashes to the floor. I promptly feast on his villainous flesh. Tastes kind of like gyoza. I am not wrong in this, To oppose me is to oppose justice, and to oppose justice is to be evil. Evil is not human, Evil has no rights. I am not eating a human, I am absorbing evil and purifying it into power for my own body. Ye, I think I know who I shall be in this life. Tensei Senryuu: The Celestial Dragon.


    The Invader


    ____________________________________________________________________


    Welp, I suppose being Atheist wasn''t the right lifestyle choice. I mean I was just kidnapped by a fucking god and forced to listen to some bullshit it had to say. All I cared about was that a week had already passed. My world tour was ruined! How many fangirls would I lose from this?! I worked hard, VERY hard to become the king of the music industry at only 27.  started in a boyband at 16, and look where I am now? Or rather where I was. Who knows how long it¡¯ll take  me to make it back, if I do at all. I swear that god will pay.


    Well it looks like the bastard god is going to give us superpowers. Let¡¯s see here, he said things like us. Well, I¡¯m the the king of freedom according to the magazines. Hmmmm, that reminds me of an old jewish legend my father used to speak of. Back when we were speaking at least, wasn''t much to talk about ever since I told him I didn''t believe in god. He doesn''t deal with the faithless, you  see.  But that legend, I think the creature was called ¡°Zizz¡±.


    Crap, I said it without thinking!  Whatever, I was probably going to choose that anyway.  Oh we get another power! let¡¯s see¡­ Domination!  yeah, that should work for what I¡¯m planning to do.  I¡¯m going to get as powerful as possible in this world, gain as many followers as I can, then make Vira Zin take us home, or murder it. Simple as that. I¡¯m not going to let that thing take my life from me!


    Later that night, I woke up too screams. People  had begun killing each other! I mean I knew it was a matter of time, but come on, the first night? Sheesh, you guys waste no time.  Oh well, time to go join in. I made my peace with what needed to happen hours ago. I assume my transformed mode for the first time.  Wooooo I¡¯m big! at least 9 meters tall,  and my wingspan is around 4 times that.  My beautiful violet feathers catch the moonlight nicely as i beat all four of my wings to take off. Damn I¡¯m sexy no matter what form i take. T¡¯is why the bitches love me.


    Even in the air, a battle field is beginning to rage.  Dragons, hawks, gryphons, gods,  Everything was fighting. I see a small dragon doling out some fairly powerful explosive fireballs. I¡¯ll start with him.  I fly towards it and attack the giant hawk that was closing in on it from behind. I rip it apart without even thinking about it. I devour it mid air in seconds.  The dragon and I make eye contact, then nod to one another. Thats one ally down.


    We go around, saving a few creatures, until we had around 20, then I said, ¡°We¡¯re leaving.¡± Damn my voice was deep in this form. We pull towards the north, with the mini dragon guarding the back. Wow, it really is a miracle we made it out of there, cause I don''t really fight usually, but somehow i killed and ate at least 15. I feel their power seeping through me.Just you wait Mad God, Skylar Grayhem  coming.

 Questions, disussions, and explanations

So, I read the comments, and I see you guys have alot of questions, and are curious as to how some things work.  I shall do my best to  answer as many  as I can.  I''ll try not to spoil anything either, especially this worlds energy mechanics... unless you want me to, please say you want me to

 Chapter 11 Shall we begin?

    Jason began to come to. He felt worse than the time  he got hungover in California during  comicon.  He tried easing himself into a sitting position on the bed he was currently laying in, and nearly fell back down. He had never been this weak before. It were as if both his body and mind were drained.


    After a few minutes, A young woman walked into the room, gasped with a shocked expression on her face, then turned around and hurried out before he could ask questions. Jason chuckled to himself. Women had reacted to him a number of ways, but not quite like that.


    A few minutes passed by and he heard someone approaching the door.  An old man dressed in white robes came in, followed by deineres, Alize, Ricky, and the last person Jason saw before he fell unconscious, the lord of the city.


    The man clad in white  came over to Jason and began examining him, and doing what on earth would be a standard physical check up. Jason realized he must be a doctor.  The doctor   nodded and procured two potions. ¡°Here. It seems you experienced both chi and chakra rebound. Unusual for necromancy, as  that requires mana. But, that wasn''t necromancy was it?¡±


    Jason opened his mouth to reply,but was cut off by the man. ¡°No, don''t answer that. I¡¯m too old to be involved with the affairs of you youngins, and lord knows my curiosity may very well get me killed. The rest of you may speak to the patient AFTER he downs those potions. i¡¯m going back to my quarters, taking care of this one for the last 18 hours is too much for an old man¡±


    The old man hobbled out of the room after watching Jason drink the potions. they weren''t that bad, jason found, just fizzy.  After the doctor left, the lord approached. ¡°Greetings. I am Lord Governor Triage Exxus, 3rd of my name, 7th head of state in the City of Gyara. I would like to formally thank you for my life. I¡­ am unsure on how to do this. it would be different if this were a battlefield and you saved me, but I was already dead, and you brought me back from the abyss at the risk of your own life. I don¡¯t know what  something of this scale is worth, but please, name what it is you wish, and see it done.¡±


    Jason already knew what to ask. He had been thinking about it the whole day before the incident with the lord, triage. Strength was everything in this world, so how could the gain it? They needed more knowledge if they were ever to see their homes again, but knowledge requires money, and how could they acquire it? While he had no intention of joining the adventurer¡¯s guild, the way they operated wasn''t entirely wrong. Thus his answer was as such:


    ¡° I would like you to recognize the founding of a new guild. Ahhh, not another uh, Adventurer¡¯s Guild. A Mercenaries Guild.¡± Jason said  this with a smile despite all the confused faces in the room. Lord Exxus¡¯ face was chief among them.


    ¡°I don''t believe there''s ever been one of those before. I mean, mercenary bands, sure. But a group of differing mercenary bands, I think not. However I¡¯m unsure if I¡¯ll grant your requests for the same reasons as those adventurer scum. These ¡®guilds¡¯ you Earthmen introduce are amazing, no doubt about that. But you displace those around you.  So many unions are in tight spots because of the Adventurers Guild alone. our local mages¡¯ union is all but collapsed, and the adventurers guild hasn''t even moved  all the way in yet. The economy is feeling the effects  of this sudden shift in financial power as well. I won¡¯t contribute to the problem any further,  not with my city I won''t.¡±


    Jason understood.Although probably primitive by the standard of his world, Socioeconomics were still at play here. This man was looking at the big picture, and saw the effects that having the equivalent of a big department store in a place full of mom and pop shops. Jason was skilled with money on a small or personal scale, but wasn''t any sort of economic genius, he couldn''t offer to help write up a plan to change the way things were going. There was really only one thing he could do.


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    ¡°I promise, I¡¯ll either absorb or work with any unions I come across, at least within this city. Is that enough?¡± Jason asked tentatively. ¡°No,¡± said the lord ¡°but it¡¯ll have to do. The unions are pretty much done anyway, at least they¡¯ll have jobs with you.  I¡¯m not really in a position to disagree to something reasonable, you did save my life after all. Hahahaha I¡¯ll put you in the building that the Adventurer¡¯s Guild is supposed to get!¡±


    Jason shook his head.  ¡°You should give them their building, We¡¯ll take the one they¡¯re in now¡± The lord was absolutely livid. ¡°Excuse me? They killed me! I know it was them!!!  I saw that rabbit bitch on the rooftop in front of me right before I died! She-¡± the lord paused for a moment, breathed before speaking again. ¡°Excuse me, my outburst was improper. But they will pay for what they have done. I only waited this long because i prioritized your survival.¡±


    jason smiled ¡°Thank you for that, However you should now prioritize yours. You should know that  with the small amount of guards you have, you couldn''t stop five Earthmen, let alone the entirety of the Gyara branch, which from the looks of it, had around ten. If you died again, I can''t guarantee that I could revive you again. No, let them have what they want. For now.¡±


    The lord nodded. ¡° It would seem your kind are not only strong, but wise as well. It burns me inside, but I think I shall do as you advise for the good of the city. In time, I shall remove the filth. I¡¯ll also recognize your guild, as well as give you your first contracts. I¡¯ll do so now.


    1st. You will guard the city of Gyara and the surrounding regions.


    2nd. There are bandits to the northeast, hampering trade and commerce with the elves. deal with them.


    3rd. There are pirates obstructing key waterways,  this is hazardous for a port city. I need them gone.


    Contracts two and three will pay one thousand gold each, and contract 1 will pay 100 gold a month. This should get your coffers up and rolling so you can get started.¡±


    The lord had turned to leave, when he was stopped by Ricky. ¡°Ahh excuse me Lord Triage-¡± ¡°Lord Exxus¡± corrected the lord ¡°Yeah ok, Exxus, Do you have a place outside that''s not really worth anything?¡±  The lord thought for a moment  before saying ¡°I may¡­ but why?¡± Ricky answered: ¡°To decide who¡¯s going to lead this guild.¡±


    Seeing the confused faces of Jason and the lord, as well as the angry faces of Alize and Deineres, he sighed and continued ¡°Look, I like Jason, don''t get me wrong, but were talking about a mercenary group here. People¡¯s lives are on the line. In that case, the strongest should lead, no?¡±


    Jason sighed. the one who should be in charge was the SMARTEST, not the strongest. If Alize had said she wanted to be in charge, that would have made more sense than Ricky. Ricky was by no means dumb, but he had more¡­ wisdom and insight than what might be called intellect.


    Still, Jason knew it had to be done, not just for Ricky, but for everyone else that would be part of the organization. It had to be known without a doubt: He was in charge. He turned to the lord and said ¡°The place you chose should be at least three days away from civilization. Expect for it to be totally destroyed.¡±


    The girls attempted to argue with him about it, saying it was stupid to fight over who should be in charge, but Jason merely waved them off. A day passed, and Jason was back in top shape. Jason left some tasks with Alize and Deineres, and the following morning, he and Ricardo left in silence for their battlefield. The lone mountain where they had met up again, all those days ago.